Sunday, September 27, 2015

Parent Meeting Notes

Communications from the 2015 September Parent Meeting

Congratulations to all the tumblers who were offered
spots in the Oakville Gymnastics Club Tumbling Program for the 2015/2016
season. We do appreciate your dedication, commitment and loyalty towards the
tumbling program.

Biographies:

Don Holmes – Head
Coach/Director of the Tumbling Program Coaching the National Tumbling group

Daniela Petrova – Coaching
the Developmental group, Provincial 1&2 group and the Provincial 234 group

Kiana Ng –
Coaching the Developmental and Interclub groups

Rob Wilson –
Coaching the Provincial 1 and Provincial 2,3&4 groups

Seamus O’Donoughue
– Coaching the National Group

See the website
under Competitive Staff for more details about the background and certification.

The One Year Contract Policy:
As you know the Tumbling program offers your child a space in the
program for one year and at the end of each season we do ask all of our
athletes to “ReTryout”. By implementing
the ‘Re-Tryout’ and ‘Tryout’ protocols we are not trying to be mean or
unsupportive of those athletes that we have been working with and developing
over the previous year (or years). Our program is a competitive program with a
limited number of spaces. We are simply trying to ensure that those athletes
who are the most deserving of a spot on the team are receiving those spots. If
at some point we do ask your child to leave the program this may be thought of
as a good thing allowing the athlete the opportunity to explore other sports
where he/she may be more suited physically, mentally or socially. Also, at that
time we may invite them to try an alternative gymnastics discipline or program
in the gym as we do believe that GYMNASTICS IS FOR ALL and we wish to keep
everyone in the gym in some capacity.

Summer Attendance: During the summer
session we expect 50% attendance as a minimum. We would prefer that your child
attends 100% of their scheduled classes but we understand summer schedules are
far more diverse and we would hope that kids take the time to enjoy summer
camps, weeks at the cottage and time with family. Please send an e-mail to your
athlete’s coach with the dates that your child will not be at tumbling. Low
attendance in some groups on specific weeks may allow us to accommodate other
athletes who have summer training conflicts and permit them to make the minimum
number of training hours. If you will be
away for the entire summer you do need to pay for your spot on the team and inform
your coaches. Missing summer training
altogether may be a factor that prevents you from receiving a spot on team.

Fall/Winter/Spring Attendance:
During the school year we expect 80% attendance as a minimum. Obviously the
less your athlete trains the less they will progress and the less they will be
prepared for competition. It is in your best interest to have your athlete at
the gym as much as possible.

Violation of Attendance Minimums and
Removal from the Program: We cannot hold spots for athletes who do not
attend the program. If you have schedule conflicts that will prevent your
athlete from reaching the minimum attendance requirement but wish to remain as
part of the tumbling program please e-mail the Tumbling Program Director outlining
your situation.

OGC Code of Conduct: We have created a specific code of conduct
for our athletes. This Code of Conduct
document is mostly for athletes when they are traveling with coaches separate
from parents. As we travel to
competitions you will see this document and if you have any concerns with it at
that time we can address them then.

Schedules: Summer Schedules and Fall/Winter/Spring schedules have
been distributed. We understand the logistical difficulties that families
encounter by receiving these schedules in June as summer camp registration and
vacations need to be booked several months in advance. Please note that we
create our schedule with careful consideration. We realize that there will be
conflicts and we have outlined how we are attempting to provide concessions for
these conflicts. Also note that due to
the ever evolving space usage of the gym we may find it necessary to change a
scheduled class temporarily or permanently depending on the situation. We cannot foresee these situations but we
will try to provide you with as much notice as possible prior to changes.

Tumbling Program Weeks Off during the Summer: Note that these change
each year as we need to address the competition schedule that is also, ever
changing. We will try to let you know well
in advance so that you can plan vacations/camps/etc. Tentatively we plan to take a week in July in
2016 and the last week of August. We
will post the definitive weeks off in April or May via the blog.

Active Rest: During the rest periods we expect athletes to remain
active. We give the tumblers a checklist of activities to do during their off
time in order to keep them fit.

Nutrition: We will post some
nutrition information on the blog at some point to assist you with meal
planning for effective trainings and competitions so keep your eye on the blog.

Water Bottles Tumblers ONLY:
Tumblers are permitted to bring water bottles into the gym and store
them in a box under the tumbling bulletin board so that athletes do not have to
cross the gym to get to the water fountains.
Only OGC Tumblers will be permitted this. Please send your child with a reusable water
bottle for all trainings. If water
bottles are left in the tumbling area they may be thrown out by cleaning staff
so if your child wishes to keep their water bottle they should take them home
after every class.

Viewing Area Closure: During the
summer months and on some holidays the viewing area may be closed in the
evening. On these days there will be no
parent viewing. Your child will be let in at the sliding glass doors at the
front of the club and be ushered out at the end of their session. When the
viewing area is closed no one is
permitted in the gym lobby for safety and liability reasons. Our apologies for
the inconvenience that this might cause.
If there is an emergency and you need to contact us inside the gym we
ask that you bang on the back door of the gym to try and get our
attention. There is usually someone
standing in that corner by the trampolines preparing to take a turn so we will
here you knocking.

Individual Parent Meetings: We offer
individual parent meetings as we or you feel they are necessary. If you have
individual questions that pertain to your specific situation we ask that you
not address these in a public forum but leave it to an e-mail or individual
meeting. We will be doing Progress
reports with all tumblers and their families in December, March and May (just
around the ReTryout time).

Chain of Command:
Speak to your child’s coach(es) directly for anything you may have
questions about. Then you may speak to
Don. If I am not able to help you then
you can speak to Wayne Hussey the COO of Oakville Gymnastics Club. If you have a question about an
event/competition DO NOT contact Gymnastics Ontario directly. DO NOT contact the host club of an event
directly. If you have a question address
it through the coach(es) and we will ask GO or the event host for you as your
question is likely one that other’s have.

Sponsorship: Athletes are able to search for sponsors to offset the
costs of training and competitions. The OGC has created a sponsorship package
for all competitive athletes. Please enquire if you are interested in sponsorship.

Fundraisers: We do two fundraisers that we try to keep easy and
simple. We will be sending out
information on the Family Fun Night.
Details about other fundraisers will be posted as the events take place. Looking for Fundraising Volunteers.

Event and Competition Schedule: See separate post on the blog.

Competitive Structure Provincial and National – See
attachment, previous post.

The Competitions.

Competition Schedules:
A tumbling competition usually last 2 days. The athletes usually need to be there for
only half a day as the awards for their flight tend to run within 1 to 3 hours
of the tumbler’s final tumbling run. The
schedule for the weekend of competition usually comes out the week prior to a
competition. We will post the
competition on the blog as soon as we have received it and will provide the
address of the event as well so that you can use your GPS to locate the
competition venue.

National Tumblers: Need to attend an international meet
at some point in order to qualify to the Canadian National Team. We will speak directly to those who
individuals who this pertains to.

Travel competitions:
It is possible that we may attend a competition outside of Ontario. Any competitions that are not Gymnastics
Ontario qualification competitions, Ontario Championships or Canadian
Championships the costs for the coaches to attend will be “cost-shared” over
the athletes that attend the competition.
Registration fees for Ontario qualifiers are included in your OGC
fees. Registration fees for all other
competitions will need to be paid at the time of the competition.

Competitive Wear:
We change our competitive singlet and shorts/leotard every two
years. More information will be coming
very soon about this. Tracksuits will remain the same this year. National Tumblers must buy the tracksuit
jacket. Purchasing the tracksuit pants
is optional but please show up to competitions with pants on. Provincial and Developmental Tumblers the
Tracksuit is optional as we do not use the tracksuit for “March In” or “Awards”
ceremonies at competitions. There is a possibility for swapping or purchasing a
lightly used tracksuit from another athlete.
Information will be distributed via e-mail regarding a Swap or Exchange
Day.

OGC Tumbling T-shirts: Are available on the clothing racks in the OGC
lobby.

OGC Optional Apparel:
OGC hooded sweatshirts, sweat pants and other OGC apparel are available
for purchase either by order or on the rack in the lobby.

Therapy Clinic:
The Glen Abby Massage Therapy and Sports Injury Therapy Clinic located
inside of the OGC is open to all. It is
not restricted to the athletes of the OGC.
All Oakville Community members are welcome to use the OGC clinic.

Sport Psych: We have a new
therapist working in the clinic who deals with Sport Psychology. Her name is Sarah Dybka and was herself a
power tumbler coached by Don and Niki.
She is available for one on one sessions.

Car Pooling: If you are
looking for Car Pooling options please create a simple classified advertisement
and email it to Don. Please include your
Name, closest intersection or school for pick up location, your phone number or
email address. Don will then distribute
this advertisement to the athletes in your child’s group or if you wish, to the
greater competitive gymnastics community within the OGC.

Any Financial questions please direct to
Agnes Jankura in the main office.

Check your e-mails regularly for OGC info.

READ THE BLOG REGULARLY: It is VERY
IMPORTANT that YOU keep up-to-date on the blog. It is the online bulletin board
for our program. Everything is archived there so you can go back and pull any
information that you might need. http://ogctumblingprogram.blogspot.com/